“But even if the size of an electron should ultimately prove… to be related to the size of the universe, that would leave a number of unexplained brute facts, notably the quantum itself, which has so far defied all attempts to make it seem anything but accidental. It is possible that the desire for rational explanation may be carried too far. This is suggested by some remarks… by Eddington, in his book, Space, Time and Gravitation… The theory of relativity has shown that most of the traditional dynamics, which was supposed to contain scientific laws, really consisted of conventions as to measurement, and was strictly analogous to the “great law” that there are always three feet to a yard. In particular, this applies to the conservation of energy. This makes it plausible to suppose that every apparent law of nature which strikes us as reasonable is not really a law of nature, but a concealed convention, plastered on to nature by our love of what we, in our arrogance, choose to consider rational. Eddington hints that a real law of nature is likely to stand out by the fact that it appears to us irrational, since in that case it is less likely that we have invented it to satisfy our intellectual taste. And from this point of view he inclines to the belief that the quantum-principle is the first real law of nature that has been discovered in physics.

This raises a somewhat important question: Is the world “rational,” i.e., such as to conform to our intellectual habits? Or is it “irrational,” i.e., not such as we should have made it if we had been in the position of the Creator? I do not propose to suggest an answer to this question.”

Actually, I was reading Winston Churchill’s “The Coming Storm.” My thought on reading the following was that it stands repeating.

“The Foreign Secretary told us that it was difficult to divide weapons into offensive and defensive categories. It certainly is, because almost every conceivable weapon may be used in defence or offence; either by an aggressor or by the innocent victim of his assault. To make it more difficult for the invader, heavy guns, tanks, and poison gas are to be relegated to the evil category of offensive weapons. The invasion of France by Germany in 1914 reached its climax without the employment of any of these weapons. The heavy gun is to be described as “an offensive weapon.” It is all right in a fortress; there it is virtuous and pacific in its character; but bring it out into the field – and, of course, if it were needed, it would be brought out into the field – and it immediately becomes naughty, peccant, militaristic, and has to be placed under the ban of civilisation. Take the tank. The Germans, having invade France, entrenched themselves; and in a couple of years they shot down 1,500,000 French and British soldiers who were trying to free the soil of France. The tank was invented to overcome the fire of the machine-guns with which the Germans were maintaining themselves in France, and it saved a lot of lives in clearing the soil of the invader. Now, apparently, the machine-gun, which was the German weapon for holding on to thirteen provinces of France, is to be the virtuous, defensive machine-gun, and the tank, which was the means by which these Allied lives were saved, is to be placed under the censure and obloquy of all just and righteous men…

A truer classification might be drawn in banning weapons which tend to be indiscriminate in their action and whose use entails death and wounds, not merely on the combatants in the fighting zones, but on the civil population, men, women, and children, far removed from those areas. There, indeed, it seems to me would be a direction in which the united nations assembled at Geneva might advance with hope…”

Weapons do not harm people. People harm people. People with weapons can usually cause more harm than people without weapons. I believe that a good portion of Britain’s Bobbys are still armed only with a hickory nightstick…

The Sound and the Fury. Written by William Faulkner. First published in 1929. Free to read online. Free and available at most public libraries. Inexpensive at book sales. Available in used book stores…

I have not actually finished this novel. It is a very difficult work to read. I think I could just skim through it and I would know a few names, a few characters. I can’t do that to this book.

There are no chapters. There is simply an awareness of others and the unspoken thoughts of one. It took me a long time to realize this even though the difference between the two modes of communication are visibly apparent (unspoken thought is in italics). Neither the past nor the future seems to hold any relevance as the present unravels with painful awareness.

The book begins with the unspoken thoughts of a pre-verbal child. A slow child. A child not like the others. Faulkner gave me the opportunity to listen in to this child’s impressions of the world. To the unspoken needs and desires of one.

About halfway through the book, possibly this is about halfway through a young man’s life, a watch crystal is purposefully broken and the hands are removed. Time is still running but the ability to count the seconds into minutes, the minutes into hours…. using that watch, has been stilled. Does time have meaning if you can no longer measure it?

This book has grown difficult again. I am putting it down, again. I have not read any of the hundreds of discussions on this book. I would like to wait until I finish it and come to my own conclusions. For this reason, Faulker and his boys will have to wait on me. Time, for the written word may be almost endless. These words will wait for me….

I found this book, and many more, in a library book sale. I had purchased other books the day before and was given a paper bag with $5 written on it. If I came back the next day I could fill my paper bag with paperbacks. As many as the bag would hold. They would all be mine for that $5. I did. I have found some wonderful books this way.

Library book sales are often run by groups called “Friends of the Library” or a similar name. Your local library may hold these sales several times a year. There are many charitable organizations that also hold book drives and book sales. These are fun events and great places to begin building a library of real books or, adding to your existing collection, with real friends….

I have been reading lately. I have been reading a lot, lately…. I could not sleep last night. An old article by Wendell Berry gave me thoughts to consider and apply to my own small business.

Solving for Pattern. Written by Wendell Berry. Chapter 9 in The Gift of the Land: Further Essays Cultural & Agricultural. North Point Press, 1981. Originally published in the Rodale Press periodical The New Farm.

Wendell Berry is a farmer and an author. His writing is thought provoking and disturbing, well written, easy to read and difficult to walk away from…

Wendell Berry has been on my reading list for a long time. It is time for us to get to know him, now! Solving for Pattern is a short article that poses questions and discusses the long term meaning of economy. Not of economics. Economy. Economy of size. Small businesses. Small farms.

Questions… I went back to university several years ago. I thought I just wanted to take a few courses, make my evenings a little more interesting. I discovered that I was learning to read in a way that I had not even considered possible. I am still learning about reading but now, I am also reading to learn to ask questions. Wendell Berry has been asking these questions for a long time. His questions about patterns, economy, conservation, and healthy living are worth considering.

Further Readings (I have already started reading The Unsettling of America):

Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture. 1977. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, 1977. This book is available in most libraries. Read a review of this book here.

James George Frazer, The Golden Bough. First published in 1890. My edition was published in 1994 by Oxford University Press. Available online, free, here.

I have been reading lately. I have been reading a lot, lately…. I finished reading this article last night, on the bus on my way home from work. Yes, I use public transit. I gave up my personal gas pedal almost 3 years ago.

Donald McGillivray, Professor of Environmental Law, University of Sussex, has a current publication list here.

I found this article doing a random search on water rights. I was looking more towards Western Canada, where I live, but all information is good and this article is full of definitions that will probably help me in further reading. And, bonus marks, Professor McGillivray’s writing is concise and clear.

Probably the most important things that I realized while reading this article was that the environment is not protected by stewardship rights or laws. That the only time we really protect the environment is when there is an overlap of needs between someone holding water (or land) rights and the environment. In other words, when it benefits someone to protect something, the environment is looked after. Not something that I had not realized before but, seeing it in a published article is different.

A couple of ‘Further Readings’ (from the footnotes) that I made note of:

This is a vintage postcard out of my collection. I like pieces of paper. They are tangible things that people place a great deal of trust in. Maps, charts, postcards, money, stamps…. They are all worth something, they just aren’t always worth a lot.

Please note that several of the links I have placed in this post are slightly ‘off topic.’ That is, there is a link showing for Trafalgar Square but, it is a link to “interglacial deposits” that were found there during the 1950s. There is so much to this world that is just beneath the surface (or, the pavement….).

This postcard was printed for the National Gallery in London – and most likely purchased as a gallery souvenir.

National Gallery, Card No. 1115. Van de Velde: Coast Scene: Calm (871). Printed in Great Britain for the Trustees under the authority of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office by Waterlow & Sons Limited, London. Wt: P1838

There are links to peer-reviewed articles in this post. There is a lot of knowledge in these papers. One of my many habits is to go through the reference lists, end notes and bibliographies to look for more information that I might enjoy reading. This is a link to a small portion of the research that the authors of the articles have included.

The cherry trees lining the street where I work now are in bloom. I have the privilege of walking by them several days a week. Many of the buds have opened.

The “For Rent” sign was removed from this nest on Monday afternoon. Renovations are underway and the new tenants are noisy and cheeky….

This afternoon, there are more blossoms open. Tomorrow the show of pink against blue should be stunning.

Tuesday Blossoms and the sky is even bluer….

I have been privileged to stand watch as a four hour sunset turned into a four hour sunrise. That was many July’s ago during a 12 hour graveyard shift on the roof of a coker at Syncrude.

I do not have a photograph, only memories… Inside the plant, personal cameras are not allowed to be carried by employees.

Today is February 23, 2014.

The photos of the cherry blossoms were taken in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada where in February’s past we have huddled under umbrellas, pulling our jackets close as the cold winds blew in off of the water. I grew up here. The cold winds and wet weather of winter are what is necessary to keep the rain forests green.

Climate change is real.

I have recently read Naomi Klein’s newest book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate. I do not believe that she exaggerates any point.

Now, I tried to put the following into my own words but, it is so perfectly written that I have copied and pasted it here for you:

“A Case for Mangroves
The approximately 70 distinct species of mangroves in the world cover roughly 17,000,000 hectares globally (Valiela et al. 2001) – only 0.12 percent of the Earth’s surface (Sullivan 2005, Ellison 2008). The greatest diversity is in Southeast Asia (36-46 species); the lowest diversity is in the United States and the Middle East (1-3 species) (Polidoro et al. 2010). Mangroves are being cut down or otherwise destroyed at such a high rate that they may be functionally extinct by 2100 (Duke et al. 2007). In just the last 50 years, 30-50 percent of the global acreage has been lost. (Alongi 2002, Duke et al. 2007) Mangroves are among the most valuable and most threatened ecosystems on Earth. The ecosystems services they provide—e.g., buffering coastal communities against flooding and storms, fiber production, habitat for thousands of species of birds, mammals and marine species—are estimated to be worth US $1.6 billion dollars/year (Polidoro et al. 2010). In addition, recent evidence suggests that mangroves sequester carbon more effectively than any other tropical forest (Donato et al. 2011).”

This is important!

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There are 65 of the most influential papers on mangroves and mangrove forests listed on this site. All are worth reading but, we don’t all have that much time….

If there is a paper that you feel is missing, please add it in the comments below. I look forward to hearing from you.

The Way of the Mister — These words are offensive! This video is offensive! It is a must watch! I am not offended by this video, I am offended by the fact that the Catholic Church will probably get away with yet another offensive speech by yet another offensive leader, without understanding what it is they have done, are doing, and will likely continue to do.

I have a hard copy of the transcript (available beneath the YouTube video), just in case it disappears!

Patrick McKinley Brennan. 2013. Subsidiarity in the Tradition of Catholic Social Doctrine, Chapter in Subsidiarity in Comparative Perspective. Michelle Evans and Augusto Zimmermann (eds.). Springer. Villanova University School of Law, School of Law Working Paper Series, 2012, Paper 173.

Jeffrey S. Burwell. 2014. Pope Francis and Bill 18: How his vision of non-judgment could temper the ways that administrators of Catholic schools in Manitoba integrate the Safe and Inclusive Schools amendment. University of Manitoba, St. Paul’s College.

I have given myself a big list to prepare for you! A combined bibliography with links will be available soon. If I take too long, please send a note. It helps to know there are people waiting for these.

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Now, go read! Then make up your own mind and leave a comment…

Also, please add links to more articles and books in the comments. There is so much more!